1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to systems and methods for presenting media programs to subscribing viewers, and in particular to a system and method for sharing viewer preferences among viewers.
2. Description of the Related Art
The present invention relates to the provision of television content and advertising. Television programs are distributed to viewers by a variety of broadcasting methods. These methods include traditional analog broadcast television (National Television Systems Committee or “NTSC” standard), the upcoming digital broadcast television (Advanced Television Systems Committee or “ATSC” standard), cable television (both analog and digital), satellite broadcasting (both analog and digital), as well as other methods. These methods allow channels of television content to be multiplexed and transmitted over a common transmission medium.
Channel numbers are typically used to identify the stream of television content offered by a content provider. Program guide information is typically transmitted along with the television content, and typically also includes schedule information for display on users' televisions. The schedule information informs users what television programs are currently on, and what television programs will be shown in the near future.
It would be desirable in a television broadcast system to have receiving devices maintain viewer preference profiles by tracking the viewing history of users. It would also be desirable to have receiving devices communicate with each other and exchange viewer preference profiles. It would also be desirable to have groups of receiving devices communicating and exchanging group viewer preferences. In current television broadcast systems, users cannot conveniently share their viewing experience with their friends, relatives, or other individuals with similar interests. In current television broadcast systems there is also no convenient way for a user to affect the program guide content, advertising or conditional channel content of another user.